John Lamola Appointed Group CEO of South African Airways

The South African Airways (SAA) Board has welcomed the approval by the Minister of Transport, Ms Barbara Creecy’s appointment of Professor John M. Lamola as its Group Chief Executive Officer.

The Board is confident that Professor Lamola’s appointment marks a turning point for SAA’s long-term financial health, who has the skill, track record, leadership skills, insight, and vision to guide the national carrier in its continued growth, ensuring that SAA remains a viable regional, continental, and global aviation operator.

Professor Lamola has been at the helm at SAA as interim CEO since May 2022. He is deeply conversant with the airline’s past and has been intimately involved in planning its future. His proven leadership will ensure stability and continuity in SAA’s governance and operations.

SAA Board Interim Chairperson, Mr Derek Hanekom says: “The SAA Board is delighted to be able to appoint a solid and dedicated leader well versed in SAA’s fortunes and eager to continue overseeing its take-off into better skies. We wish Professor Lamola and SAA safe flight into an even brighter future.”

In his position as interim CEO, Professor Lamola ensured SAA’s return to profit-making status. In the 2022/23 financial year, SAA reported a net profit of R252-million, marking its first profitable year since 2012. Revenue in the same year was R5.7-billion, up from R2-billion in the previous financial year (2021/22).

The airline has steadily added national, continental, and global routes, flying to 16 destinations by January 2025, in contrast with six destinations in 2021. It has expanded its fleet from six aircraft to 20 in the same period, including the addition of two Airbus A330s. Since 2021, SAA has increased its workforce from 800 to approximately 2 000 (November 2024), including 140 pilots, at group level.

The airline’s financial discipline and health continue to improve, and Professor Lamola’s appointment confirms the Board’s confidence in his leadership and aligns with the government's vision for a commercially viable and globally competitive SAA.

“Professor Lamola can now continue growing SAA with confidence, knowing that he has the full support of the SAA Board and its shareholders,” Hanekom says. “We congratulate him on his appointment and wish him well in his leadership of SAA.”

According to a study SAA commissioned from Oxford Economics Africa, a London-headquartered consulting leader in global economic forecasting and econometric analysis, SAA’s gross value add (GVA) to South Africa’s GDP in the 2023/24 financial year is R9.1-billion. Oxford Economics Africa projects that the airline’s GVA to South Africa’s GDP will rise to R32.6-billion by 2029/30.

The same report estimates that SAA is a powerful job creator for the South African economy. It projects that SAA’s impact on the economy, through, for example, bringing tourists to South Africa and facilitating international trade with the country, will take off, sparking the creation of direct and indirect jobs, from 25 200 jobs in 2023/24 to 86 700 by 2029/30.

SAA activities are anticipated to generate government revenue of R1.1-billion (actual) in 2023/24, rising to R4.4-billion (projected) by 2029/30.

Professor Lamola has solid experience in the aviation industry, having built and managed a proprietary private equity investment portfolio that included holdings in aviation and internet technologies. He was CEO at Denel Aviation between 1996 and 2001 and served on the Board of the Airports Company South Africa between 2012 and 2017.

Professor Lamola obtained his PhD in philosophy and religious studies from Edinburgh University in Scotland and a Master of Business Administration degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida in the United States.